Bikers Workshop Series
GL1500 Steering Bearings Replacement.
By Steve Saunders.
Honda Goldwing GL1500 steering head bearings have a lot of work to do, due to the weight of the Goldwing. When they start to wear excessively and cause wobbly, loose or stiff steering in your GL1500, it is time to replace them. Previous experience of setting steering head bearings torque helps, but isn't absolutely essential if you are used to working on your Goldwing.
Click the thumbnails for a bigger image.
First thing is to secure your GL1500 Goldwing so it doesn't fall when you pull the front end out. Having the GL1500 front wheel an inch or two off the floor will make it easier to roll the wheel out later.
Pull the Goldwing fender rear trims off.
Remove the 8mm bolt here...
...and the two here...
...don't lose the spacers from the bottom two...
...and pull the rotor cover off. Do the same on the left side.
Pull off the ignition cover and the two plastic console fillers.
Remove the two brake caliper bracket Allen bolts and pull the whole bracket/caliper assembly away from your Goldwing.
Remove the large axle bolt.
Loosen the two 12mm lower pinch bolts on each fork leg.
Now push the axle through and remove it.
Don't lose the right side spacer when you roll the wheel out.
If you decided to leave the speedometer drive connected to the cable, unhook it from the bracket and let the drive and cable dangle with the rear fender when you remove that later.
A closer look at the GL1500 speedometer drive...
...and where it is driven from in the wheel.
Time to roll the wheel out of the Goldwing.
Pop the fork trim cover bolt caps off and remove the two Allen bolts and the trim.
Don't lose the spacers.
Now remove the four bolts which go through the fork legs and fender...
...and into this bracket.
Remove the two 10mm bolts holding the lower part of the front part of the fender to the fork legs...
...and remove the front part of the fender.
Now remove the 10mm bolt from each side and remove the rear part of the front fender.
Looking up under the fairing, remove the two Phillips screws holding the plastic guard...
...and let it slide down the brake and speedometer cables.
Loosen the 10mm pinch bolt at the top of each fork leg...
...and the two Allen bolts lower down...
...and slide the fork legs out.
Before you remove the handlebars, it's a good idea to measure the clearance between the top of the brake or clutch reservoir and the windshield, so that you will get it right when refitting the handlebars later.
Remove the four 12mm bolts and two handlebar clamps.
I usually move the handlebars back and rest them on a wooden or other support on the radio console, using plenty of padding. The brake and clutch reservoirs should be as upright as possible to minimize the risk of brake fluid leaking out and ruining your paintwork.
From below the lower steering yolk, remove the three Phillips screws holding in the turn signal canceller unit...
...then from above pull the rubber cap up and slide it as far along the wire harness towards the dash as you can. You need to disconnect the canceller unit from the harness which is tricky because the connector block is inside the steering stem tube. Push as much harness slack as you can down into the steering stem tube, and from below use a long thin screwdriver to disconnect it.
The harness disconnected...
...and the turn signal canceller unit removed from below the steering stem.
Now remove the 30mm centre nut holding the top bridge in place...
...and lift the top bridge away.
You will now be looking at the steering stem locknut and steering adjustment nut below it, with a lock washer in between. Straighten out the lock washer tabs and remove the lock nut...
...with a purpose made steering stem tool or a home-made one like in the picture below.
Lock nut removed, lock washer visible...
...now remove the steering adjustment nut, and get someone to support the steering stem from below so it doesn't fall out and hit the floor.
Steering adjustment nut removed. Put it away safely as it is easily damaged.
Lowering the steering stem out of the tube. That isn't me in the picture, I roped in a volunteer in work for this.
Upper bearing removed...
...followed by the upper bearing race which can be easily tapped out from below...
...like this.
The lower bearing race is a bit trickier to get at and I had to scratch my head and think about it for a minute. An old large flat head screwdriver bent near the tip should get you into the gap between the race and the tube...
...I found it easier with a long piece of bar (8mm but this isn't important) bent and with a bit filed off near the end like in the picture...
...the filed out part allows the bar to fit snug in the gap and you can easily tap the lower bearing race out from above.
With the steering stem in a vice (protected with old rags) tap off the old lower bearing. The dust seal will more than likely be butchered when you do this.
Here are the remains of the old bearings...
...and the old dust seal, now only fit for the bin.
New bearings ready to fit.
Tap the lower bearing race carefully and straight up into the tube...
...and do the same with the upper bearing race from above. You need to drive them home until they are fully seated.
Fit a new dust seal to the steering stem...
...and apply a smear of grease.
Now ease the new lower bearing down the steering stem until it reaches the thick part...
...then use a hammer and a piece of pipe longer than the steering stem to tap the new bearing down onto the seal. I used the inner part from the old bearing between the pipe and new bearing as shown below.
Grease the lower bearing...
...and push the steering stem back up the tube.
Have a helper hold the steering stem in place while you put the new greased bearing in place...
...and the steering adjuster nut
Check the Honda manual for the correct steering adjuster nut torque, on this 1992 model it is 14ft-lbs (1.9kg-m) for the final torque. It may be identical for other or all GL1500 models, but I don't know for sure so consult your manual. Now first torque the nut to 29ft-lb (4.0kg-m) and turn the steering stem fully lock to lock a few times to seat the new bearings. Loosen the adjuster nut until it is hand-tight, then torque it to the final setting, in this case it was 14ft-lbs (1.9kg-m). Turn the steering stem fully lock to lock a few more times and recheck the adjuster nut torque. When turning the steering stem from lock to lock, make sure it doesn't feel too tight or loose. Some previous experience of this work helps and any tight spots or slop means you need to adjust the adjuster nut again. When you are satisfied...
...put a new lock washer (or the old one if it is in good shape) in place. Hold the steering adjustment nut while you...
...refit the lock nut so that the tabs on the lock washer line up with the slots in the locking nut and the adjuster nut. If they don't line up, turn the lock nut up the other way and tighten the lock nut. Make sure the adjuster nut doesn't turn while you tighten the lock nut.
Slide the two fork legs back up in place, nipping up a lower Allen bolt on each side of the lower stem to hold the forks while you...
...reinstall the top bridge and torque the 30mm nut to 72ft-lb (10.0kg-m).
Refit the fender, wheel, brake calipers etc. in reverse order to the way I explained earlier.
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